Through Children's Eyes

Suzanne Alexander Headline Kids

an imprint of Headline Books, Inc.

Terra Alta, WV

(Previous page) Photograph of the painted aluminum sculpture, “Circle of Life,” 2000, on the exterior wall of the Huntington Museum of Art. It was created with teens in partnership with the Huntington Housing Authority and sculptor Jonathan Cox. / Photo credit: John Spurlock / Image courtesy of the Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, West Virginia

To the docents of the Huntington Museum of Art who bring art alive for the children who enter its doors.

Through Children’s Eyes: Exploring the Huntington Museum of Art

by Suzanne Alexander copyright ©2017 Suzanne Alexander All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any other form or for any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage system, without written permission from Headline Books, Inc. To order additional copies of this book, or for book publishing information, or to contact the author: Headline Kids P. O. Box 52 Terra Alta, WV 26764 Tel: 304-789-3001 Email: mybook@headlinebooks.com www.headlinebooks.com Ashley Teets—Art Director Lucas Kelly—Design/Layout Published by Headline Books Headline Kids is an imprint of Headline Books HMA is located at 2033 McCoy Road in Huntington, WV. For more information, visit www.hmoa.org. HMA is fully accessible.

ISBN-13: 978-1-882658-96-1 Library of Congress Control Number: 2017935914

P R I N T E D I N T H E U N I T E D STAT E S OF A M E R IC A

LOVE on the painted aluminum sculpture / “Circle of Life,” 2000 on the exterior wall of the museum.

Photo credit: John Spurlock / Image courtesy of the Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, West Virginia

Welcome to the Huntington Museum of Art. Have you ever been to an art museum before? What did you see? Did you discover

paintings, drawings, sculpture, pottery, and glass there? Artists use a lot of different materials, also known as media, to make their art such as paint, wood, metal, and clay.

Artists also use a lot of different tools to create art. Can you think of some? Besides pencils, brushes, and pottery wheels, did you think of color, line, shape, form, and texture? Those are also some of the tools or elements that artists use known as the elements of art. These elements are clues the artists give to help you understand their art.

Open this book and explore our museum to discover some art, and the materials and elements artists used to make them. When you have the chance, please visit the museum to see the art in person.

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Photograph: Minnie Adkins (American, Kentucky, b.

1934) and Herman Peters (American, Kentucky, 1922-2008) / “Iron Rooster,” 2000 Welded and painted metal. Dimensions: 102 x 56 x 21 in. Gift of Herman Peters and Minnie Adkins, 2000.17 / Photo credit: John Spurlock / Image courtesy of the Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, West Virginia

Art can not only be found on the inside of museums but on

the outside as well. The animal in the photograph greets visitors outdoors as they come by bus or car to the Huntington Museum of Art. What animal is this? Are roosters usually blue? That is what is fun about creating art! You can make your art look anyway you would like.

The Kentucky folk artist, Minnie Adkins, designed the blue rooster. A folk artist is a person who has not received formal training as an artist, but has a love for making art. Minnie is best known for her animals carved from wood, from farm animals to red foxes, and even a purple imaginary animal called the Terminator Eater. Minnie grew up on a farm and was inspired by the animals on it.

Minnie has been carving ever since she was old enough to hold a knife. Her late husband, Garland Adkins, also used to carve with her. Minnie’s second husband, Herman Peters, a metal worker, made her well-known animals into iron sculptures. The blue “Iron Rooster” is made from steel, and painted with the three primary colors: yellow, red, and blue.

The “Iron Rooster” has both shape and form. What shape are the eye and pupil of the rooster? What shapes do you find on the tip of the rooster’s comb and his beak?

When any of these shapes become three-dimensional and have depth and thickness, we call them a form in art.

Circles take the form of spheres and triangles become cones and pyramids. What form makes up the rooster’s body?

Did you think of a cylinder? Are you reminded of a garden tool when you look at the rooster’s feathers?

Not only do artists use materials, tools, and elements in creating art, but, most importantly, they use their

imaginations!

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Photograph: Jonathan Cox, American, b. 1950 “The Discovery,” 2000 Poplar, Carrera marble, and steel Dimensions: 178 x 69 x 26 in.

Museum Purchase, 2000.3 Photo credit: John Spurlock Image courtesy of the Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, West Virginia

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Circles and triangles, like those we see in Minnie

Adkins’ “Iron Rooster,” are flat shapes we find in math.

There are shapes found in nature, too, like long blades of grass or thin leaves. As you now know, when any of these shapes become three-dimensional, they are called a form in art. Sculptures are three-dimensional art forms.

Visitors to the museum discover a huge sculpture inside that has been created by the sculptor Jonathan Cox. It is called “The Discovery.” Does it remind you of a form you find in nature? Do you think of a water drop or a thick leaf? The artist doesn’t tell you the answer because he wants you to make the discovery on your own.

Jonathan Cox uses forms and materials found in nature to create his sculptures. This sculpture is made from wood. Do you think the bands of wood look like veins of a leaf or the barbs of a feather? The wooden sculpture rises from a large rock, called marble. This marble rock keeps the wood sculpture balanced.

Jonathan has worked with wood almost all of his life.

When he was four, his father gave him his first toolbox.

Later he and his father built wooden boats together. By the time he was 14 years old, Jonathan and his father had built five boats. Do you think the skills he learned then helped Jonathan create this sculpture?

Unlike the folk artist Minnie Adkins, Jonathan is an artist who took art classes throughout school including from universities.

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Flintlock Rifle, American, 1780 Attributed owner – Daniel Boone, Carved in stock “Danl Boone, General, Kantuckee” and “1780.”

Dimensions: 7 ½ x 66 x 2 ¼ in.

Bequest of Herman P. Dean, 1961.75 Photo credit: John Spurlock Image courtesy of the Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, West Virginia

One room or gallery has a collection of firearms (guns and rifles) which is unusual for an art museum to have. These firearms were collected by a West Virginia traveler and outdoorsman, Herman P. Dean, and then donated to the museum.

One of the Kentucky Long Rifles in Dean’s collection is believed to have belonged to the famous frontiersman Daniel Boone. The name “Danl Boone” is carved on the butt of the rifle. His name is followed by the carved words “General,” “Kantuckee” (meaning the state of Kentucky), and the date “1780.”

One of 11 children, Daniel Boone was born in 1734 in a log cabin in Berks County, Pennsylvania. With a rifle his father gave him, Daniel began hunting around the age of 12. He became a skillful hunter and woodsman, providing meat for the large Boone family.

By the time of the date on the rifle, Daniel Boone had explored much of the area which is now North Carolina, Virginia, Kentucky, and West Virginia.

He lived for a short time, with his wife and some of his 10 children, in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. Daniel even represented Kanawha County in the Virginia General Assembly. He lived until 1820, when he was almost 86 years old.

If Daniel’s name had been written in ink on this rifle, would it have lasted this long? This 3-dimensional relief carving of his name, with its depth and thickness, helped the words last many years.

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Powder Horn, American, 1760 Powder horn made of horn and wood, inscribed “Robert Cameron, 1760.”

Engraved with a picture of a mermaid with horn in one hand and floral branch in the other hand, sailing ships, town, fish, and detailed scene of town Dimensions: 13 1/8” length Bequest of Herman P. Dean, 1964.23 Image courtesy of the Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, West Virginia

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Early American frontiersmen, such as Daniel

Boone, needed to keep the gunpowder dry for their rifles.

If the gunpowder got wet, the rifle would not fire. Hollow buffalo or cow horns provided the perfect container for gunpowder since the horns were waterproof. The slim end made an excellent spout for pouring the gunpowder into the rifle. Both ends were plugged with stoppers, usually made of wood. A leather strap was added to the powder horn so the wearer could sling it over his shoulder. In Herman Dean’s collection of firearms, there is a case filled with powder horns, most of them decorated.

Many of these frontiersmen and soldiers would carve their names and the date on the powder horn with a knife. They also carved lines in the horns showing maps of rivers and lakes and borders of towns as well as battlefields. The carver rubbed ink into the lines so that the pictures would stand out.

We can tell from the lines on this powder horn that it belonged to Robert Cameron and was carved in 1760. On the horn are scenes of a town with roofs of houses, church steeples, rooster weathervanes, and a flag. There are also carvings of a large ship, two fish, a windmill, and a mermaid.

Because of these maps and pictures on the powder horns, we know today where towns were located; what log cabins, forts, and ships looked like; and what soldiers and even children wore 200 to 300 years ago.

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George Catlin, American, 1796-1872 / Osceola of Florida, 1838 / Lithograph from original portrait with hand-coloring, signed and titled in the stone, a lock of hair is attached to the print with tape Dimensions of plate: 26 5/8 x 19 3/8 in. / Gift of Mr. Herman P. Dean, 1969.39 Photo credit: John Spurlock / Image courtesy of the Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, West Virginia

Today, we also know how the American Indians once dressed, thanks to their portraits painted by the artist George Catlin. George had a deep respect for these Native Americans which began when he was 9 years old. At that time, George became friends with On-O-Gong-Way and his family, members of the Oneida tribe who lived on his family’s land in Pennsylvania. George’s mother also told him the story of her and her mother’s capture by an Indian tribe when she was a child. They were treated very kindly and soon were returned to her father. When George decided to become a painter, he combined it with his interest in the American Indian.

Osceola, in his colorful dress, stands out in George Catlin’s original portrait as he did in life. Osceola was a Seminole leader who fought the United States government’s attempts to remove the Seminoles from their homeland in Florida. Since George had become well known for his American Indian portraits, he was awarded the honor of painting this famous warrior.

George made prints, such as this one in the firearms gallery, from the original portrait.

Even though Osceola was very sick, he put on his best clothes for the painting. George was able to capture all the details in the clothes, from the orangeand blue- print bandana with its black- and white- ostrich feathers to the blue- and orange- sash around his waist. Osceola also wears silver beads and ornaments as well as a silver powder horn.

Sadly, Osceola died on January 30, 1838, just two days after Catlin finished this portrait of him. However, Osceola became so admired over the years that cities, counties, lakes, mountains, a park, and a national forest in the United States carry his name.

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Rug, Tabriz, Iran, late 19th century / Silk, prayer rug design with mosque lamp suspended in blue field Dimensions: 69 x 48 in. / Gift of Drs. Joseph and Omayma Touma, 2000.10.97 Image courtesy of the Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, West Virginia

The Touma Near Eastern Gallery may be just feet from the firearms collection, but its art is half a world away. You would have to travel by plane or boat across the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea to view the art of these countries. Many of the countries are often in the news: Syria, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and others.

This collection of Near Eastern art also is a donation by Joseph and Omayma Touma, husband and wife who are both doctors in the Huntington area. They generously donated a wide variety of Near Eastern art, including rugs such as the one pictured on the opposite page.

This rug or carpet may look a little familiar if you have seen the movie “Aladdin” from Walt Disney Pictures.

Do you remember the magic carpet in the movie on which Aladdin and Jasmine, the Sultan’s daughter, fly? This rug does resemble Aladdin’s magic carpet, but it is not magic and does not fly. Rugs, such as this one, are used for prayer in the Islam religion. Most of the people in the Near Eastern area of the world are Muslim. This means they follow the Islam religion which requires its followers to pray five times a day. Muslims use these rugs for kneeling when praying.

These prayer rugs, made of wool or silk, have a soft texture. Texture is how something feels. These rugs have been woven or hand-knotted for thousands of years in the Near East by workers, often women and children. These rug makers can tie three to four knots per second or 8,000 knots a day. Even with this speed, it can take years to make one large prayer rug.

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Oil Lamp, Iran, 12th to 13th centuries Bronze Dimensions: 5 ¼ x 5 3/8 x 2 5/8 in.

Gift of Drs. Joseph B. and Omayma Touma, 2004.3.27

Hanging Lamp, Syria or possibly Jerusalem, late 19th – early 20th centuries Underglaze-painted fritware Dimensions: 6 ¾ x 9 in. dia.

Gift of Drs. Joseph B. and Omayma Touma, 2004.3.19 Images courtesy of the Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, West Virginia

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When you look at the photograph of the prayer rug, can you see the arch-shaped design at the top of the rug with an oil lamp hanging from the arch? The arch is a common shape in Islamic architecture and is found in the religion’s houses of worship called mosques.

Before the invention of electricity, oil was placed in glass, ceramic, and bronze lamps and hung, usually with chains, from the ceiling of the mosques to provide light. In the photographs, the oil lamp, made from bronze metal, looks very much like the lamp containing a genie in the Disney movie, “Aladdin.” No genies in this oil lamp! However, it does have the form of a ram’s head on the lid and a bird is perched on top of the handle. The handle is made up of joined circle and rectangle shapes. There are two round knobs on the sides of the oil lamp where either chains or ropes were attached so the lamp could be hung from above.

The lamp in the other photograph is made mostly from clay.

The clay lamp is then fired in a kiln which is a very hot oven used in making pottery. A glaze is added to prevent the oil from leaking through the clay lamp. The glaze also gives the lamp its shiny appearance. The lamp is decorated with blue, aqua, and red calligraphy on it. Calligraphy is the art of beautiful writing. On this lamp, it is Arabic writing. The colors make the calligraphy stand out against the cream-colored background. The calligraphy’s lines also create a pattern. What is a pattern? A pattern is any of the elements of art (line, shape, color, form, and texture) that repeat.

In Islamic countries, artists rarely show work with people in them. Instead, they create art with flowers, plants, and patterns.

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Detail of the ceiling in The Touma Near Eastern Gallery.

Hand carved and inlaid with mother-of-pearl by craftsmen in Damascus

Abalone Shells / Photo credit: John Spurlock Images courtesy of the Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, West Virginia

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What shapes do you see in this part of the carved wood ceiling of the Damascus Room in The Touma Near Eastern Gallery? Did you find some shapes with many sides including a star?

This ceiling, with its many shapes, was carved in Damascus, the capital of Syria, a Near Eastern country.

The designers and carvers used the same skills that their ancestors used for hundreds of years.

See the light, shiny shapes inside the wood? These shapes are made from mother-of-pearl or nacre which is found on the inside of some types of shells. One of these shells is an abalone (seen in the photograph).

Before carving the wood and creating the mother-of-pearl inlay or inserts, a design must be drawn on paper. Then this paper is glued on a plank of walnut, a wood from a tree found in many parts of the world including Syria. Using special hammers and chisels, the carver outlines the design with grooves. He inserts a thin silver wire in these grooves. The silver wire highlights the mother-of-pearl shapes.

Next, areas with the shapes of circles, ovals, or triangles, are carved out of the wood. Then the same shapes of equal-size are cut out of the shell. These mother-of-pearl shapes are glued and placed inside its matching shape in the wood, like a jig-saw puzzle.

When all the areas of the wood are carved, and some inlaid with the mother-of-pearl shapes, the paper design is removed. Then the wood and mother-of-pearl are polished so they shine. Now everyone can enjoy the beautiful shapes these carvers and designers created.

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Edward Rithner, (American, Wellsburg, West Virginia, b. 1890-?)

Candy Cane Paperweight, ca. 1925 Colorless off-hand blown glass with color glass inclusions Dimensions: 2 x 3 in.

Museum purchase, 1990.127 Photo credit: John Spurlock Image courtesy of the Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, West Virginia

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Do you collect anything, such as rocks, seashells, or miniature cars? Many people love to collect special things. The Huntington Museum of Art has a gallery of glass objects that people have collected over many years. There are cups made of glass as well as pitchers (for pouring liquid), plates, vases (for holding flowers), and many more objects.

Glass was a very important industry years ago in West Virginia. There were more than 500 glass factories in the state, but now most are gone.

However, there are still artists in West Virginia, and elsewhere in the United States, who create colorful glass objects.

Do you know what material is used to make glass? Here is a hint: it is what you walk on when you walk on the beach. If you guessed sand, you are right. Clean sand is heated in a furnace to more than 2,000 degrees. At that high temperature, the sand becomes liquid glass.

It looks almost like honey! Then the glass artist can pour the liquid glass into molds. Or the artist can blow it, like a glass balloon, using a special pipe.

This object in the photograph is a glass paperweight which is used to hold down papers so they don’t blow around. Inside this paperweight it looks as though there are pieces of real candy cane, doesn’t it? That’s not candy! Those candy cane pieces are made of glass! First, glass is blown and stretched into long rods or canes. Then the canes are cut into pieces and clear glass is blown around them.

Glass can have a smooth texture such as this paperweight. Glass also can feel bumpy, rippled, or even rough. It all depends on the tools or molds the artist uses to shape the glass.

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Minnie Adkins (American, Kentucky, b. 1934) Black Bear Vase, 1991 The Pilgrim Glass Corp., Ceredo, West Virginia Sand-carved cameo glass of five layers, cranberry/white opal/black/crystal/slate green.

Designed and illustrated by folk artist Minnie Adkins, with a repeat bear motif Dimensions: 7 x 5 ¾ in.

Gift of the Pilgrim Glass Corporation, 1991.75 Image courtesy of the Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, West Virginia

Not only does glass have different textures, it also can be made in many colors. How does glass get those colors?

Different metals are added to the sand in the hot furnace. If gold, a valuable metal, is added to the sand, the glass turns into a ruby red or rose color. If silver, another precious metal, is added, the glass becomes yellow.

Different colors of glass can be layered, one on top of the other. This is the beginning of a special type of glass design called cameo glass. The “Black Bear Vase” in the photograph is an example of cameo glass.

Once the layers of colored glass are added, a design is drawn on the top layer of glass. This design is carved away using special tools. In the “Black Bear Vase,” the green glass was blown first and then the black glass was added.

When the bear design was carved out, the green glass could be seen underneath. The design of the black bear is raised up, or in relief, so it has texture.

The dark black bear really stands out against the light green background. The white eyes and the red mouth trimmed in white also stand out against the black color of the bear. In art, this is called contrast: a light color against a dark color or a dark color against a light color.

The design was created by the Kentucky folk artist, Minnie Adkins. Minnie normally carves her animals from wood, so a glass artist created the pot from her design. She and her husband also created the metal sculpture of the blue Iron Rooster, seen in the beginning of this book.

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Paul Storr (British, 1771-1844) Beehive Honey Pot, London, George III, 1798-1799 Silver in the form of a beehive with gilded interior Dimensions: 4 ¾ x 2 ¾ x 3 5/8 in.

Gift of Herbert Fitzpatrick, 1952.216 Photo credit: John Spurlock Image courtesy of the Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, West Virginia

Silver has been considered a precious metal for

hundreds of years. Not only has silver been added in glassmaking to create yellow color, but beautiful objects have been made from silver. Back in the 1700s, the amount of silver a family owned was a sign of how wealthy they were.

Wealthy families were served food by their servants in detailed and fancy silver serving dishes. What do you think was served in this silver bee hive in the photograph?

You guessed it – honey!

This Honey Pot was created by Paul Storr, a famous silversmith, who lived from 1771 to 1844. The word “smith” comes from the old English word “smite” which means to hit or strike. A silversmith uses special hammers to strike a thick piece of silver called an ingot into a flat, two-dimensional sheet. Then the silversmith shapes the silver into a three-dimensional form, such as the beehive, a bowl, or even a coffeepot.

Paul used sharp tools to create the lines or coils on the beehive to make it look realistic. This beehive looks very much like a bee skep. Skeps are baskets made of coils of straw or grass and placed open-end down. Skeps are what beekeepers used as hives for many years.

Paul Storr became an apprentice or beginning silversmith at the age of 14. After more than 10 years of learning to work with silver and create designs and patterns on this precious metal, Paul Storr opened his own workshop. During his lifetime, he became a well-known master silversmith for the careful detail of his silver work.

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Chocolate tree (Theobroma cacao) in the C. Fred Edwards Conservatory Image courtesy of the Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, West Virginia

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Not only do people create art, but so does nature. There is a tropical plant conservatory in the Huntington Museum of Art which you might think is unusual for an art museum to have. Not really, since all the elements of art (color, line, shape, form, and texture) can be found in plants, flowers, trees, and even animals. What do you see on leaves that make you think of lines? Did you think of the veins of the leaves? How does the trunk of a tree feel? Rough or smooth?

That’s texture! Shapes can be found on flower petals and on butterfly wings. Three-dimensional rain drops form on spider’s webs. And color is everywhere in nature.

There are veins in the leaves and rough texture on the bark of the Chocolate Tree in the photograph. Yes, chocolate does grow on trees! The scientific name of the Chocolate Tree is Theobroma cacao.

Theobroma means “food of the gods.” The ancient Aztecs of Mexico thought that chocolate tasted “out of this world.” Do you think so?

The Chocolate Tree grows from 13 to 26 feet tall in warm, tropical regions of the world, not far from the equator. The Chocolate Tree produces white flowers that eventually grow into chocolate or cacao pods. When ripe, these pods look like squished orange pumpkins. Their orange color stands out against the green leaves.

Inside the cacao pod are beans which are processed into chocolate! To make this long process very short: the cacao beans are dried, roasted, hulled (shells removed), and ground. Before sweet chocolate candy is made, sugar has to be added to the chocolate. Chocolate in its natural form is very bitter. Nature isn’t always sweet!

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Blue Poison Dart Frog (Dendrobates azure) in the C. Fred Edwards Conservatory Image courtesy of the Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, West Virginia

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Nature can be downright poisonous! Have you ever

put your hand accidentally into a patch of poison ivy? Did you end up with an itchy rash on your hand? If you have, you learned quickly that nature can be harmful!

Look at the photograph of the little 2-inch-long frog. Isn’t his blue color beautiful? Doesn’t the bright blue color make the frog stand out against the green leaves? Yes, the color is beautiful, and it does contrast with the leaves – but the blue color serves as a warning sign to all animals that come across the frog in the rain forest. The bright color says, “Stay away! I’m poisonous!”

In the rain forest hunters once used the poison from the skin of these frogs for their darts and arrows. That is how these frogs got their name.

There are more than 100 species of Poison Dart Frogs in the rain forests of Central and South America and on a few Hawaiian Islands. They are known as “the jewels of the rain forest” because of their bright colors: green, red, blue, yellow, and orange. Scientists believe that these frogs get the poison from their diet of insects. These insects have a poison or toxin in them. Surprisingly, the frogs don’t get sick from their food.

The poison just moves through their skin instead. Blue Poison Dart Frogs get their poison from eating ants that contain this toxin in the rain forest of Suriname in South America.

The Huntington Museum of Art has a terrarium in the conservatory with Blue Poison Dart Frogs in it. A terrarium is a tank that has soil, plants, and a small bowl of water in it.

The museum’s frogs are fed fruit flies that don’t have toxins in them. Therefore, the museum’s Blue Poison Dart Frogs aren’t poisonous. They are just fun to watch and study!

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“Circle of Life,” 2000, painted aluminum sculpture, created with teens in partnership with the Huntington Housing Authority and sculptor Jonathan Cox Photo credit: John Spurlock Image courtesy of the Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, West Virginia

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Art museums all over the United States have

programs and activities for children of all ages.

Children and teenagers get to make their own art in museums such as the Huntington Museum of Art. Most of the time, these young artists get to take home their creations, but sometimes their art is part of a big project such as this “Circle of Life” sculpture. The circle is a series of objects that were created by teenagers who got together, through the Huntington Housing Authority, with sculptor Jonathan Cox to produce this special art work. When they were done making each object, all twelve were attached to a wall on the side of the museum creating the “Circle of Life” sculpture.

The colorful pieces on the sculpture, cut from metal, represent objects found in everyday life from a basketball hoop and backboard to the sun. There is even a word on the circle. What is that word? Is it an important word in life?

The “Circle of Life” sculpture contains all the elements of art: color, shape, form, line, and texture. The smooth texture of the metal contrasts with the rough texture of the bricks behind them. Each of the twelve pieces is attached to the wall in a way that gives each object extra depth so that each one stands out.

Do you think the bright paint colors also help each object stand out?

The colors, shapes, and lines on many of the items are repeated creating a pattern. The pattern of the curved rays of the sun give it a sense of movement.

Do you have a favorite object on the “Circle of Life” sculpture?

Do you have a favorite object in this book? That is what is great about museums! There is something in them for everyone.

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Glossary Color is light reflected off of objects back to the eye. Color has three main

characteristics: 1) hue or tint which is the name of the color (for example, yellow, red, blue); 2) intensity or strength of a color (for example, dull yellow, bright red); and 3) value which is the lightness or darkness of a color (for example: light blue, dark blue).

Curator Traditionally, a curator or keeper of a cultural heritage institution

(e.g., gallery, museum, library, or archive) is a content specialist charged with an institution’s collections and involved with the interpretation of heritage material.

Docent person who serves as a guide and educator for the institutions

(museum) they serve, usually on a voluntary basis

Forms are three-dimensional shapes showing length, width, and depth.

When a square becomes three-dimensional, it is called a cube. A circle becomes a sphere when it has length, width, and depth.

Line is a mark with length and direction. Lines can be horizontal, vertical,

or diagonal. They can be straight or curved. A line may be used to create a sense of movement. It can be two-dimensional like a pencil mark on paper, or three-dimensional like a wire.

Pattern is any of the elements of art (color, form, line, shape, and

texture) that is repeated.

Shape is made when lines connect. Shapes are flat or two-dimensional.

They can be geometric, such as squares or circles. Shapes can be organic, such as ones from nature (for example: leaf, water droplet).

Texture is the feel of an object: smooth, rough, soft, etc.

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Children of all ages will love this ‘walk through’ of the Huntington Museum of Art located in Huntington, WV. Author and docent, Suzanne Alexander, brings together a spectacular variety of fine art that entertains, educates, and inspires all of us to appreciate the many different kinds of art in our world. And for some, to encourage them to try their own hand at creating beautiful works of art!

The Huntington Museum of Art is a fine arts museum nestled on 52 acres with nature trails and a tropical plant conservatory. HMA has permanent art exhibits of Near Eastern art and artifacts, antique firearms, and Ohio Valley glassware. HMA also hosts traveling exhibits and temporary exhibits created from HMA’s permanent art collection, which includes American and European paintings, sculpture, contemporary prints, folk art and more.

Suzanne Alexander has been a docent for the Huntington Museum of Art

for over ten years as well as an outreach teacher for their Museum Making Connections program. Throughout her career as an elementary school librarian, language arts teacher, children’s librarian in a public library, and book columnist, Suzanne has shared her love of reading and art. She currently writes stories and articles for children and young adults, and is a member of the West Virginia Writers, Inc. and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. In her free time, Suzanne enjoys traveling which often creates inspiration for her writing.

Author photo courtesy of Toby Werthammer